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Father Balder
Father Balder, Master of the Heavens, is the main antagonist in Bayonetta. He is the last of the Lumen Sages, the CEO of the Ithavoll Group, and the father of Cereza/Bayonetta. He was responsible for starting the Witch Hunts and the death of Antonio Redgrave, who was in fact Luka's father. In addition, Balder is the Right Eye of the World. Appearance Father Balder first appears wearing a white robe draped in gold patterns. Notable features include a gold mask that covers the left side of his face with a monocle over his left eye and a peacock draped over his shoulders with its feathers arching around his head. His skin looks noticeably pale/blue, giving him a deathly appearance. According to the game he is 500+ years old as we see him today. When he absorbs Cereza, his appearance changes somewhat. His robe changes color from white to gold, and the gold patterns become blue and all proceed to a circle on Balder's chest, which has the blue apparitious head of Cereza protruding. The peacock feathers grow to about seven times in length and sway about during movement and, although strangely, the peacock itself seems to disappear. From the look of the model, these could in fact be wings. After the battle, Balder reverts to his original appearance, but lacks the peacock and mask, which may have been destroyed after the battle. Role in the Game Balder was one of the main Lumen Sages who started the attack on the Umbra Witches; but differently from them, he, as the Right Eye of the World, had other plans. He secretly impregnated Rosa with Bayonetta, the Left Eye of the World, in order for her to be used in the revival of Jubileus, The Creator. Centuries following the massive slay of the Lumen Sages, Balder became the CEO of the Ithavoll Group, located in Isla Del Sol. He first "appears" as a voice that constantly calls Bayonetta his "dear, sweet child", and speaks more frequently after she meets a little girl called Cereza. After finally reaching Balder, Bayonetta learns he is her father, and that Cereza is her own past self, brought in by Balder to recover Bayonetta's memories of being the Left Eye and thus making her achieve his goal. Luka then appears, and Balder reveals to him that he was the one who ordered Antonio's death. Luka is subsequently thrown out of a window after trying to attack him. Bayonetta is not pleased with this conclusion and tries to attack her father as well, but fails. Balder fuses with Cereza and fights Bayonetta while both of them fall from the Ithavoll Building. Bayonetta manages to shoot Balder in the forehead with her lipstick, apparently killing him. 'Return and Death' Balder survives the shot and kidnaps Bayonetta, who awakens as the Left Eye after returning Cereza to the past. He sends her to Jubileus' left eye, while he takes his place in the right eye, and then launches the statue into space. However, Jeanne follows them and frees Bayonetta from her fate. Without Bayonetta to serve as the Left Eye, Balder is left as the remaining eye and is killed by the statue of Jubileus in a "blink of an eye", triggering the resurrection of Jubileus, the Creator. Abilities As the last of the Lumen Sages and the Right Eye of Jubileus, Balder is incredibly powerful. Using only a tiny fraction of his power, he was able to telekinetically fling Luka out of a window (breaking several walls in the process) and to stop time with his Light Speed technique. He even has the ability to revert Bayonetta back to her normal mode when she goes "serious". During combat, he shows more of his abilities, including being able to fly, create a variety of energy attacks such as a sword-like weapon of light from his hand, summon balls of energy that arch around him which can be thrown simultaneously at enemies, and is also able to use high-level telekinesis, evidenced by when he rips buildings out of the ground. He also commands a satellite-based particle beam weapon orbiting the planet that produces a concentrated blast of energy to shoot down unsuspecting targets. He commands the satellite using the power of his mind. He is capable of destroying more than one of Bayonetta's Infernal Demons and using the dead demon to fully replenish his vitality. Similar to Bayonetta, Balder chants when using several attacks, such as when summoning bursts of lava and sending meteors crashing on the platform. His endurance is impressive, as he appears almost unfazed when a building is thrown at him. Lastly, he is able to create angelic barriers to protect himself from bullets. It can be argued that even with such a display of power against Bayonetta, Father Balder was still holding back his power. After all, he needed her to awaken the Left Eye of the World, and she would be of no use to him dead. However, Bayonetta was also holding back, considering the fact that she did not go back into serious mode after Balder forced her out. Trivia *His name, Balder, is the name of the god of the light and of beauty in Norse mythology. *Balder was 22 years old when he fathered Cereza. *The battle with Balder is similar to Dante's battle with the The Despair Embodied from Devil May Cry 2, who attacks in a very similar manner, alternating between sword and whip-like attacks while deftly circling around their foes. *Balder possesses some small similarities to the Resident Evil antagonist Albert Wesker, and Devil May Cry 4 antagonist Sanctus in terms of appearance, personality, and goals. Both were powerful, wealthy, intelligent, but mentally unstable individuals obsessed with killing off humanity and replacing it with their own ideal world without any concern for the well-being of others, including their own allies. Finally, prior to their own deaths, they were owners of powerful international corporations that used a false image as a cover up for playing a part with superhuman monstrosities and they had manipulated events from behind the scenes while leaving their own identities shrouded in mystery. **Balder is voiced by the uncredited Grant Albrecht but was often mistaken for Liam O'Brien, who was also known for doing the voice of the Devil May Cry 4 antagonist Sanctus. **A slight similarity Balder shares with Sanctus is that they both required a descendant of a powerful family (Nero and Dante were the descendants of Sparda, the demon who Sanctus worshiped, and Bayonetta/Cereza being a descendant of the Umbra Clan and Balder himself.) in order to awaken a powerful colossus that posed a threat to not only the human world, but the demon world as well. However, Jubileus would, in a sense, also pose a threat to Paradiso when she went berserk from not having Bayonetta/Cereza serve as the Left Eye. *His wings during the boss battle may be a reference to the fallen angel Lucifer, said to have assumed the guise of a twelve winged angel as one of his forms, and was considered the highest of all angels. The fact that Balder is considered a traitor to the Lumen Sages and Umbra Witches, while convincing people to his cause of slaughtering the Witches, fits with the Lucifer myth as well; Lucifer rallied a third of the heavenly host to take over Heaven. *During the Lumen Sage scene, Balder uses magic to put lipstick on Cereza. He also blooms a cherry blossom to put in her hair. *He has a total of 21 wings (including tail wings) when fought. *The achievement name, Master Of The Heavens, fits Father Balder's occupation considering he is the last of Lumen Sages and capable of commanding the Hierarchy of Laguna. *Balder and Jubileus, the Creator share failed boss battle sequences. Quotes *"My name is Balder. But if you so choose, you may address me as...Father." *"The Trinity of Realities wrapped up in a vortex of creation!" *"My, oh my..." *"My dear, sweet child. Fear not. For I am watching over you." *"The time has come to awaken the Eyes of the World." *"May Jubileus, The Creator, grace you!" Character Relationships *Rosa - Former Lover *Cereza/Bayonetta - Daughter Gallery Balder kills demon.jpg|Balder kills Gomorrah Balder uses sattelite.jpg|Balder uses laser satelite. bayonetta's lipstic.jpg|Bayonetta's lipstick, it written "Balder and Rosa." Balder Slain.jpg|Balder's death. Balder's telekinesis.jpg|Balder prepares to throw an building. Category:Characters Category:Bosses Category:Males Category:Deceased Category:Sages